alt.education

America is great because it was built on foundation of Bible principles
http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080322/OPINIONS02/803220313/1006/OPINIONS

Dee Wampler • March 22, 2008

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Easter is coming, the time of year when we recognize the death and
resurrection of a little known Jewish carpenter, Jesus of Nazareth.
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His birth is honored by state and federal holidays, and all 50 states
recognize the Almighty. Time is dated from his birth. His life changed the
history of the world. Billions of believers have and do attempt to follow
his teachings. More than 60,000 books have been written on the life of
Jesus, more than any other person in the world, yet his public career was
less than three years. And his followers began to settle our nation.

In 1892, America's highest court declared "This is a Christian nation." In
1952, the U.S. Supreme Court acknowledged "We are a religious people whose
institutions presupposed a supreme being."

In 1984, after years of legal wrangling, the U.S. Supreme Court made it
absolutely clear the so-called doctrine of total separation of church and
state has never been thought to be possible or practical. In Lynch vs.
Donnelly, the court stated (in no uncertain terms) that there has always
been an "accommodation" between church and state.

Once in awhile your newspaper prints guest editorials that are almost more
than a body (or mind) can stand. Recently one Jim Broadstreet opined that
"all religions are pretty much bunk." ("Religion has no business in
government -- history agrees," March 3.)

Strict separationists quote an obscure Article XI of the Treaty of Tripoli
(1783) (later deleted) in a desperate attempt to try to show that America
was not settled or influenced by people of faith. Calling "most" of our
Founding Fathers "deists" is their favorite phrase to argue that our
Founding Fathers had "no interest whatsoever" in the religion of others or
whether they were Christians. Some want to scrub out any mention of God
from all political life and documents.

Claims that the First Amendment keeps religion and government "absolutely
and completely separate" are totally unsupported by past or present law.
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Strict separationists twist the First Amendment to totally separate church
and state at a time when we are today altering moral values, undermining
patriotism, celebrating diversity to change lifestyles, fostering
dependence on government and censoring textbooks to exclude our founders'
belief in God. Some want to exclude The Ten Commandments, the Pledge of
Allegiance and other historical documents since they mention God.

There are so many examples that disprove the lie of total separation of
church and state that space does not permit a listing.

A tour of our historic sites affirms that America was birthed by men who
had a firm reliance upon an Almighty God and his son, Jesus Christ.
Inscribed upon our buildings, monuments and national symbols is our
nation's faith in God, yet a small vocal minority of the American public
still refuse to acknowledge our heritage.

We have come a long way from the U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1892
stating that "this is a Christian nation." Admittedly, much has changed
since then and America has now inverted our values. The secular humanistic
system of values has become a predominant way of thinking.

America became the greatest nation in the world because it was established
by faith-filled men and women who intentionally set out to establish a
nation built upon principles of the Bible. Their hope was to build a nation
that honored God.

A watering down of our local and national religious heritage has occurred
in my lifetime. Our woeful neglect of America's Christian history is never
more apparent than in politically correct, scripted history that is today
carefully being sacrificed upon the altar of political correctness by
religious cleansers.

Religion may no longer define our nation as it did for us when the pilgrims
and Founding Fathers came to this land, but the United States is still a
deeply religious society and our language, institutions and government
reflect that heritage.

May God bless America and our proud history!

Dee Wampler lives in Springfield.

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You are invited to check out the following:

The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocracy.htm

American Theocrats - Past and Present
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocrats.htm

The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html

[and to join the discussion group for the above site and/or Separation of
Church and State in general, listed below]

HRSepCnS · Historical Reality SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/

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. . . You can't understand a phrase such as "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion" by syllogistic reasoning. Words
take their meaning from social as well as textual contexts, which is why "a
page of history is worth a volume of logic." New York Trust Co. v. Eisner,
256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921) (Holmes, J.).
Sherman v. Community Consol. Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 445 (7th Cir. 1992)
. . .
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USAF LT. COL (Ret) Buffman (Glen P. Goffin) wrote

"You pilot always into an unknown future;
facts are your only clue. Get the facts!"

That philosophy 'snipit' helped to get me, and my crew, through a good
many combat missions and far too many scary, inflight, emergencies.

It has also played a significant role in helping me to expose the
plethora of radical Christian propaganda and lies that we find at
almost every media turn.

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THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
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